Salvar una vida

Jake Taylor and Roger were the best of friends. Roger even saved Jake's life once which left Roger with a permanent limp. The boys drift apart during high school. Jake becomes the basketball star and starts going with cheerleader Amy Briggs. He abandons Roger to loneliness and bullying for his limp. Roger takes a gun to school and commits suicide. Jake feels guilty and lost despite getting a full college scholarship. Amy doesn't understand. His friend Doug pranks loner Jonny. Youth pastor Chris reaches out to Jake. Roger had gone to church but Chris failed to talk to him. Jake starts going to church and befriends Andrea which alienates Amy and his friends. Danny is the weed smoking cynical slacker son of the lead pastor. Jake's parents are getting a divorce. Amy is pregnant with Jake's baby. A date between Jonny and Andrea goes badly and he goes back to cutting. Danny overhears Amy's pregnancy and spreads the news in school. Next Danny pranks a fake bomb threat from Jonny getting him arrested.

There is no doubt that this movie tries to cover too much area with too many movie-teen issues. I do like how most of the issues are handled but there is simply too many of them. As far as Christian films go, this is better than most. The actors are somewhat charismatic. If the issues could be cut in half, this would allow more time for each issue to develop and resolved in the Christian way. It would also allow the movie to be a more manageable ninety minutes.

I took my son to see this movie. He is 16 and has had a tough time of feeling like an outsider at school. It helped him to see that everyone has problems and everyone else's life isn't perfect. This movie dealt with real things teenagers deal with on a daily basis and how they chose to deal with life. It might just save a life. For those kids who think it's cool to make fun of others and treat others like they are not worthy of consideration, that somehow they are better than others, they should watch this. It will help to see the effect that you have on others. My son didn't even care to see this movie but, when it was over he said it was good. I highly recommend this movie to teenagers and parents alike. It was worth seeing.

We seldom go to the movies because most aren't worth watching (in our opinion) but my husband & I went to see "To Save A Life" yesterday (opening day) knowing it was a faith based movie. We're 40-50 something in age & have been in prison ministry for around 14-15 yrs. This film is a true-to-life movie that shows the reality of what the kids & youth of America go through every day. The suicide rate for teens is unbelievable. Too many of those who don't kill themselves, kill someone else or get into crime & end up in prison...all because they believe nobody cares & life is hopeless. We were impressed with the movie in many ways & found it to be made as very true. I left bawling (that's Texan for crying hard) even though it was humorous in places, too, because we've seen the results of those who have managed to stay alive on the street, but get sentenced (most for the majority of their lives) to prison, just to fight & struggle to survive. Prison life isn't living, only existing. It really is true that we each can save lives...you never know what someone is going through & sometimes just a smile or friendly gesture can make the difference in life & death. We don't think this is just a young people's movie - everyone should see it! We are Christians & have been quite some time, but after viewing this movie, I left changed. Go see it...you won't regret it.

Best movie I've seen in a long time. Deals with real life teenage issues (the messy ones that no one wants to talk about or face). Even though those issues are going on right in front of us everyday!! I was amazed at how many different issues were actually dealt with in one movie! It is NOT a self-righteous religious movie. It's a movie with hope in the midst of reality (even when reality is ugly and hard). It's not a SWEET movie, but a very thought provoking movie! This movie is for kids on BOTH sides life. The ones that "FIT-IN" and the ones the "DON'T". All teenagers, parents, teachers and anyone who comes in contact with teens should see this movie. Adults are sometimes blind to what's really going on. If teenagers would actually get hold of this message it could make a change in schools, neighborhoods and cities everywhere!!! I'm going to see if for the 2nd time this next weekend. I hope it is in theaters for a while!

First, I want to say that the movie I saw was almost nothing like its preview. I walked into the theater expecting a relatively dense, deep portrayal of guilt and doubt. This movie had very, very strong Christian overtones, to the point where my friends and I were laughing out loud - not because it was funny, or even because the scenes were cheesy, but that one thing after another kept adding up, and it was SO unbelievable and over-the-top.

The casting director for this movie needs to find another job. The two main characters were easily in their late 20's. The girlfriend is supposed to be super popular and desirable, but she is hunched-over and wrinkled. No high schooler looks like that. The "troubled kids" actually looked like real teenagers, and the styling in that sense was pretty realistic, but it only served to contrast even more with how old the other cast members were. There was an extra at the kegger that was easily in his early 40's. It was ridiculous.

But all of these things aside, my biggest complaint is that this movie had a real opportunity to explore some deep issues related to life, faith, and guilt. The main character had no soul. He was going through the motions of being hurt, angry, and confused, but I didn't believe it for a second. The only believable scenes were those that involved his parents. I don't completely blame the actor for this. I think it was largely the fault of the screenwriter. My hunch is that the screenwriter, who is a youth pastor, has had personal experience with parent trouble, how troubled teens act, etc. What he does NOT understand is how it actually feels to be a troubled teen (all of their diatribes were along the lines of, "Nobody understands me. I feel so alone." It never went much deeper than that.)

Even more, I am almost certain that this writer doesn't know what it feels like to experience heavy grief as a teenager, or to feel guilty or like he caused someone to do something horrible. He (and the actors) make a valiant attempt to imagine what it would feel/be like, but it falls so painfully short.

People who think this movie is an accurate representation of that kind of pain have most likely never lived it. I suspect the same could be said about the issue with the main character's girlfriend at the end of the movie, but I have never personally experienced that, so I can't say for sure.

In summary: If you are an average Christian churchgoer, particularly one that belongs to a slightly more modern church (say, one that uses electric guitars in the church band), than almost without a doubt I think you will really enjoy this movie. It speaks to your reality and might broaden a few minds. If you are a victim of childhood/adolescent trauma, a serious crisis of faith, or severe depression - all of which I have personal experience with - then I suspect you will find this movie falls disappointingly short.